d not a word of their conversation did I lose, however foreign
and unintelligible the chief part of their language appeared to me. The
little, however, that I seemed to understand heightened the ardor of my
curiosity, and busied me at night with strange dreams. I awoke early,
and found myself at the house of my new host, where the miners were
gradually collecting to receive orders. A little side-room was fitted
up as a chapel. A monk appeared and read mass, and afterwards
pronounced a solemn prayer, in which he invoked Heaven to give the
miners its holy protection, to assist them in their dangerous labors,
to defend them from the temptations and snares of evil spirits, and to
grant them abundant ore. I never prayed more fervently, and never
realized so vividly the deep significance of the mass. My companions
appeared to me like heroes of the lower earth, who were obliged to
encounter a thousand perils, but possessing an enviable fortune in
their precious knowledge, and prepared, by grave and silent intercourse
with the primeval children of nature, in their sombre, mystic chambers,
for the reception of heavenly gifts, and for a blessed elevation above
the world and its troubles. When the service was concluded, the
overseer, giving me a lamp and a small wooden crucifix, accompanied me
to the shaft, as we are accustomed to call the steep entrance into the
subterraneous abodes. He taught me the method of descent, acquainted me
with the necessary precautions, as well as with the names of the
various objects and divisions. He led the way, and slid down a round
beam, grasping with one hand a rope, which was knotted to a transverse
bar, and with the other his lamp. I followed his example, and in this
manner we soon reached a considerable depth. I have seldom felt so
solemnly; and the distant light glimmered like a happy star, pointing
out the path to the secret treasures of nature. We came below to a
labyrinth of paths. My kind master was ever ready to answer my
inquisitive questions, and to teach me concerning his art. The roaring
of the water, the distance from the inhabited surface, the darkness and
intricacy of the paths, and the distant hum of the working miners,
delighted me extremely, and I joyfully felt myself in full possession
of all that for which I had most ardently sighed. This complete
satisfaction of our innate taste, this wonderful delight in things
which perhaps have an intimate relation to our secret being, and